Guiding Light
by wicked.insanity
Summary: Post 3x24 Knockout. Kate comes home one day to find a letter that  will change everything.


**Title:** Guiding Light  
><strong><span>Rating<span>:** K+**  
><span>Summary<span>:** Post 3x24 Knockout. Kate comes home one day to find a letter that will change everything.**  
><span>AN:** Just a little something that popped into my head after re-watching the finale one day. Hope you guys enjoy it!

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><p>It was a sunny day in late July when Kate Beckett's whole world spun on its axis. It had started like any other – at least like any other since that fateful afternoon in May when they had interred her mentor, her Captain.<p>

She had just returned from one of the more rigorous physical therapy sessions of the week when she noticed it. Taped to her door, was a letter. Kate, messily scrawled across the center, the only thing on the envelope.

Upon entering the empty apartment, Kate quickly closed and bolted the door, her focus solely on the envelope in her hand. Settling on the couch, she fingered the edges, turning it over as she contemplated the contents.

She'd known immediately who it was from. She would recognize that messy scrawl anywhere. It had been two months since that day in the hospital. Two months since she'd heard his voice, seen his face. Funny, how they could never seem to spend a summer in each other's good graces.

Taking a deep breath she gently but quickly opened the letter. She grabbed the paper, not bothering to spare a glance at the other contents in the envelope. With a flick of the wrist the paper unfolded, and she began to read…

_Kate, _

_I'm sorry. For so many things. For not having the strength to do this face to face. For not considering the consequences of my actions. But I can't go back and change the past. As much as I wish I could – but maybe I can change the future. Maybe I can protect you this time._

_There are so many things I wish I could tell you. So many things I should have told you before now. Maybe it was meant to be this way though. I promise I will do everything in my power to, one day, come back to you. I'll come back and I'll tell you everything I kept locked away in my heart. You've always been my reason to keep going Kate._

_When Alexis was four or five, she loved the shore. Loved watching as the lighthouse illuminated a world shrouded in darkness. A constant, guiding light for those who were lost at sea, safely guiding them home to those who loved them. For the better part of three years you've been that guiding light for me Kate. I just hope I have the chance to return to those who love me, those whom I love._

_It's my fault. All of this, everything that has happened, happened because of me. And I have to make it right. This is my burden to bear. _

_Inside the envelope is a USB drive and a key taped to a business card. The key is to the safe in my office. The five-digit code is on the card. As for the USB drive…consider it leverage. When you're ready, use it. I hope that, no matter what you find inside, you'll always remember me as your plucky sidekick, as your partner._

_Whatever you do, don't come after me Kate. That's all I ask. _Don't_ come after me. _

_I love you Kate. As my best friend. As my partner. As the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Always._

_Forever yours, _

_RC_

* * *

><p>She didn't know what to do. Didn't know whom to call, whom to trust. After two months, <em>two months,<em> of not hearing from Castle, he does this. What was going on? Why was he doing this? Why didn't he come to her?

Reaching for her phone, she quickly presses Speed dial #2. With each successive ring her heart rate speeds up. With each successive ring her nerves eat away at her. Something's _wrong_. She can feel it. Thirty agonizingly long seconds later she's forwarded to Rick's voicemail. _Why won't he answer? _ She hangs up, her hands shaking as she does. It's barely a minute later before she's redialing his number.

She wants to know what's going on. She _needs_ to know what's going on.

And then she remembers. _A USB drive and a business card with a key attached. _The key and card won't do her any good. She doesn't have the time. Without a second thought she reaches for her laptop. If only the USB drive holds all the answers.

The next few moments pass in a blur. She won't remember connecting the USB drive, or opening it. But then, a single folder opens and the words on the screen take her breath away. _Roy Montgomery. Kate Beckett. Johanna Beckett._ The list goes on. _Leverage_. Castle had considered the information leverage. _But leverage over who? _It doesn't take Kate long to connect the dots. To figure out why Castle delivered this to her _now_.

As a million different scenarios cross her mind, Kate is again reaching for her abandoned phone.

Three more times she calls. Three more times he doesn't answer. _Something's_ wrong.

On the fifth try, she finally gives in.

"Rick, please, answer the phone. You don't have to do this. Please just come home and we can do this together. We can figure it out. Please, don't do this. Just come home. Castle, I love you. I _love_ you, Rick."

* * *

><p>Three thousand six hundred and thirty miles away, Richard Castle stood overlooking the Eiffel Tower, phone grasped tightly in one hand, and a wrinkled piece of paper in the other. With tear-filled, unseeing eyes, Rick clicked his phone off, deposited the manila envelope into his duffel bag, and sat for just a moment.<p>

He sat in silence, and for one last time thought of those who loved him, those he loved more than anything.

Their faces flashed before his eyes. A slideshow of everyone that was important to him. _Alexis, Martha, Kate, Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, Montgomery._

Standing, Rick took one final look at the paper in his hands before setting it on the bed. In those final moments, the only sound that could be heard the was click of a gun as the ghost of a once happy man released and checked the magazine, checked the chamber, removed the safety, and holstered the gun beneath his jacket.

And then, Richard Castle disappeared. The only thing left behind – a worn picture of Richard Castle, his daughter Alexis, and his partner, Kate Beckett.

**Fin.**


End file.
